Doctors More Than Halve Local Relapse Of Rectal Cancer

Rectal cancer patients who receive a combination of improved surgical techniques and short-course radiotherapy before surgery have a strong chance of remaining cancer-free, according to two articles published in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

The study shows that high quality surgery and a five day course of radiotherapy cuts recurrence rates to just 1%, compared with about 13% with standard surgery alone.

Both reports are based on an assessment of data collected during the Medical Research Council funded CR07 trial and the CO16 trial funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

One report assessed how the amount of tissue removed around the tumour by surgeons affected the rates of rectal cancer recurrence.

The findings, based on 1156 patients from the UK, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, with operable rectal cancer, shows that surgery rated as ‘good’ that removes the whole of the rectum – known as the ‘mesorectal plane’ - is the most successful.

Advertisement

The results are so convincing that this high quality surgery technique is already being used by surgeons.

“At present, only 50% of rectal cancer surgery is done in the mesorectal plane, suggesting that a further decrease in local recurrence rates might be obtained by improving the plane of surgery… [This can] be achieved through education and surgical tuition,” said Professor Phil Quirke, Yorkshire Cancer Research Centenary Professor of Pathology, a pathologist from the University of Leeds, and lead author of the paper.

The accompanying report, led by Dr David Sebag-Montefiore from St James’s University Hospital in Leeds, compared the effectiveness of short-course pre-operative radiotherapy, with a five week course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy reserved for those patients considered at high risk of the cancer returning. The reason for the latter option was that radiation given in the pelvic area can lead to sexual and bowel problems.

1350 patients were randomly assigned either five daily treatments of radiotherapy followed by surgery, or surgery followed by 25 treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for those at high risk of a local recurrence.

Findings show that after three years 4 % of patients in the radiotherapy group had a local recurrence, compared with 11% of patients in the surgery and selective treatment group.

Richard Stephens from the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit said: “These studies add further weight to the argument that the quality of surgery achieved improves outcomes in rectal cancer patients, and that short-course pre-operative radiotherapy improves them even more, even when good surgery has been performed.”

“The results of the trial mean that patients will now be able to make an informed decision about the benefits and side effects of pre-operative radiotherapy. What the trial clearly shows is that both treatments combined have the best outcome in treating rectal cancer.”

Related Terms

According to a study carried out on mice published today in the British publication NatureAn, an international team of researchers has programmed nanorobots to search for, and destroy tumors by cutting off their blood supply. The entire process occurs within 24 hours and impressive results were observed in a melanoma mouse model.

Nutrition is an important factor in boosting and maintaining immune system health. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown in studies to be a preventative of cancer. This is why it's shocking that the most healing of all non-cancer foods - asparagus, has come under attack.

New animal research published in the journal, Nature, suggests that food can either fuel or inhibit the spread of cancer. This is due to the amino acid composition of foods because certain cancers appear to thrive on specific amino acids.

Today the World Health Organization (WHO) released this picture discussing ways to reduce your cancer risk. There are lots of good points there, but the HPV vaccination as a way to reduce cancer risk created a big controversy on its Facebook page.

I don't know if it's the alcohol itself or the extra ingredients that go in today's alcohol drinks, but the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that drinking alcohol can increase the risk of at least 7 types of cancer and limiting alcohol intake is one way to reduce your cancer risk. Apparently it's the ethanol in alcoholic drinks.

The 13-year-old boy has spent the last 8 months believing he is going to die from brain cancer because his parents allegedly told people that their child has terminal brain cancer in a phony, yet successful attempt to get donations to help with the cost of his medical expenses.

Maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly and avoiding smoking, makes it possible to prevent up to a third of the most common cancers, says On World Day Against Cancer, The Ministry of Health recalls preventive measures Doctor Fernando Arenillas from the Oncology Service of the San Martin de Parana Hospital in Argentina.